San Diego County
Biographies
HERBERT
ANSON CROGHAN
On
the roster of county officials in San Diego County appears the name of Herbert
Anson Croghan, who has served as tax collector since June, 1921, and who has
resided within the borders of the county for a period covering forty-five
years. He was born in Cedar Rapids,
Iowa, August 13, 1872, his parents being Thomas and Alice E. Croghan, who were
natives of Illinois and Ohio, respectively, and were married in Iowa. The father of Thomas Croghan was born in
Ireland, and the lineage of Mrs. Thomas Croghan traced back to English
origin. Thomas Croghan was one of the
gallant young patriots who represented the Hawkeye state as a soldier of the Union
in the Civil War, his service having been that of a private in Company G,
Twenty-fourth Iowa Volunteer Infantry.
He participated in numerous engagements, including the Battle of
Winchester, where he was wounded, his command having there been a part of the
troops of General Philip Sheridan. Mr.
Croghan served many years as a member of the police force of Cedar Rapids,
Iowa, and in 1888 he came with his family to California and established a home
in San Diego. Here he was formerly in
the employ of the Pacific Wood & Coal Company, and he has been also a
successful gardener. He and his wife
still reside in this city, where for a number of years he has lived retired,
secure in the high regard of the community which has long been his home. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Croghan had three sons,
namely: Herbert A., of this review; Roy
B., deceased, who served as chief gunner’s mate in the United States Navy
during the World War; and Harry B., who died in San Diego, California.
The
schools of his native city afforded Herbert A. Croghan his early education, and
in Cedar Rapids he also gained his initial experience of practical order as
clerk in a store. He was sixteen years
of age at the time of the removal of the family to San Diego, California, in
1888, and here he served in various clerical positions until 1895, when he
became associated with the Pacific Wood & Coal Company, his connection with
which covered a period of many years, though not in a consecutive way. He served about one year as deputy county
recorder during the first term of John H. Perry, and he served as deputy county
treasurer at the time of the administration of J. W. Thompson as county
treasurer. He continued his connection
with the Pacific Wood & Coal Company until 1910, and was thereafter in the
employ of the Southern Electrical Company for somewhat more than one year. He then resumed his alliance with the Pacific
Wood & Coal Company, with which he remained until the 1st of
June, 1921, when the county board of supervisors appointed him county tax collector
to fill out the unexpired term of Anson F. Cornell, who died suddenly on the 30th
of the preceding month. At the time of
his appointment to this important office Mr. Croghan was auditor of the Pacific
Wood & Coal Company and secretary of the Southern Electrical Company, both
of San Diego. He served as secretary and
a director of the Silver Gate Building & Loan association from 1905 until
July 1, 1921. He is an indefatigable
worker and enjoys an unassailable reputation for honesty and integrity.
On
the 25th of October, 1897, Mr. Croghan was united in marriage to
Miss Mary E. Gandy, who was born and reared at Cottonwood Falls, Kansas. She is a daughter of the late Asbury P.
Gandy, who was one of the honored pioneers and influential citizens of Chase
County, Kansas, where he served many years as county recorder. He passed the closing years of his life in
San Diego, California, having long survived his wife, whose death occurred in
the Sunflower state.
Mr.
Croghan has been prominent in the local councils and campaign
activities of the Republican Party, served about ten years as a member of the
county central committee of the party, and was treasurer of the county
committee four years. He is a past
master of San Diego Lodge, No. 35, F. & A. M., of which he was the
presiding officer in 1906. He has been continuously the keeper of records
and seal of Red Star Lodge, No. 153, Knights of Pythias, since 1900, and was
grand chancellor of the California Grand Lodge of the Knights of Pythias in
1915-16. He is a member of the local
organization of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Improved Order
of Red Men and the Dramatic Order of the Knights of Khorassan,
the while his Masonic affiliations include the local chapter and commandery and
also membership in the Mystic Shrine. He
has been the secretary of the Knights of Pythias Building Association from its
inception in 1905. He is a popular
member of the Cabrillo Club, and while the bicycle was in the height of favor
he was a member of the old San Diego Wheelmen’s Club. He is a member of the San Diego Chamber of
Commerce and the San Diego Museum Society, and both he and his wife are
communicants of All Saints Church, Protestant Episcopal. Mr. and Mrs. Croghan reside at 3650 Thirty-second Street in San Diego, and they have a host of
real friends throughout the community.
Transcribed
by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: California of the South
Vol. IV, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 573-575,
Clarke Publ., Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 V.
Gerald Iaquinta.
GOLDEN NUGGET'S SAN DIEGO
BIOGRAPHIES